Fruit stemming and decapping machine



J. D. GADDIE FRUIT STEMMING AND DECAPPING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7, 1946 INVENTOR. John D Ga/Mq %TURNE Oct. 24, 1950 J. D. GADDIE 2,527,182

FRUIT STEMMING AND DECAPPING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 d .4 TTORNZZU Oct. 24, 1950 J. D. GADDIE 2,527,182

FRUIT STEMMING AND DECAPPING MACHINE 5 Filed June 7, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 4/3 4,6 1:31 rfi l 4% /INVENTOR.

y JznD 640 05? .-I TTORNF Patented Oct. 24, 1950 FRUIT STEMMING AND DECAPPING MACHINE John D. Gaddie, Weslaco, Tex.

Application June 7, 1946, Serial No. 675,197

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for decapping and de-stemming fruits, such as strawberries, cherries, raisins, grapes and the like, and has for an object the provision of apparatus of the charcter designated which shall be simple of design, of large capacity and capable of treating fruits without damage thereto.

Briefly, my invention contemplates the provision of an inclined roller bed comprised of a multiplicity of grooved metal rollers alternating and in frictional driving engagement with a like number of soft rubber rollers down which the fruit is caused to move transversely of the rollers. The axes of the grooved rollers lie substantially in a common plane slightly above the plane of the axes of the rubber rollers to aid in drawing the stems or caps of the fruits into the bites between adjacent rollers. A slatted conveyor acts on the fruits to move them over the roller bed from the feed end to the discharge end, the slats being inclined to exert a lifting effect on the fruits. Means are provided to wash the fruits and free the machine of caps and stems as the machine operates.

These and other important features and novel details of construction are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which Fig. l is a plan view showing my improved decapping machine with certain parts removed;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-'1II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail view, partly in section, of bearings for. the decapping rollers;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along the line VV of Fig. 3, showing hold down means for the roller drive chain;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing the action of the rolls in decapping strawberries; and

Fig. 7 is a detail view of a bearing adjustment.

Referring to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, my improved machine comprises a frame including a base ID, a lower upright I I, and an upper upright I2, the upright I2 being longer than H to support a downwardly inclined work bed. While not limited thereto, I have found that an inclination of 29 to 30 brings about excellent results, especially in decapping strawberries. The work bed consists of three longitudinal sections A, B and 0, supported on transversely extending eye beams I3 and I4. secured, respectively, to the uprights I I and !2. Longitudinal eye beams I6 extend along the sides of the sections, there being four of said eye beams, two of which are shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The work bed, or roller bed, employed with my invention extends entirely across the three sections' and is comprised of a. multiplicity of grooved metal rollers I I, alternating and in frictional driving engagement with a like number of relatively soft rubber rollers I8 which coacting rollers are adapted to engage between them and remove the stems and caps from the fruit on the bed. As shown in Figs. 4 and 6 of thedrawings, the metal rollers I! are disposed to engage and bear forcibly against their coacting rubber rollers so as to distort them slightly and thereby firmly engage the stems or caps of the fruit'indicated at I9 in Fig.6. It will also be seen from'Figs. 4 and 6 that the axes of the grooved metal rollers lie in substantially a common plane which is higher than a substantially common plane passing through the axes of the rubber rollers. The effect of this arrangeinent, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, is to cause the fruit to so tilt that the stems or caps will be engaged in the bites between the rollers. It will also be seen that this action is such that the stems are engaged between the grooved rollers I1 and the next soft rubber roller I8 upwardly of the roller bed.

The rollers I1 and I8 are provided with bearings at their ends and in the divisions between the sections A, B and C, said bearings at each such point comprising a lower lower bearing block 2| mounted on one of the eye beams I6, and provided with spaced bearing portions to receive the shafts 23 of the soft rubber rollers I8. An upper bearing block 24 is provided with spaced bearing portions 26 to receive the shafts 21 of the grooved metal rollers I1. The bearing block 24 extends the length of the roller bed and is held in assembled relation with respect to the block 2I and the bed by means of U-shaped brackets 28 and 29 at each end of eachpair of blocks. The brackets 28 and 29 are pivotally secured at their lower ends to the eye beams I6 as indicated at 32 and straddle the ends of the upper bearing blocks 24, the upper webs of the eye beams being cut away as shown in Fig. 2 to allow this pivotal mounting. An adjusting screw 3| extends downwardly through the upper end of each of the brackets 28 and 29 and is threaded into the upper bearing block 24. By the arrangement shown, it will be seen that the necks or shafts of the upper metal grooved roll ers I! are engaged by the upper bearing blocks 24 and that the necks, or shafts of the lower relatively soft rubber rolls bear against the lower I bearing blocks 2| whereby the pairs of coacting rollers are held in tight engagement throughout their length with the grooved metal rollers pressing into the surface of the adjacent soft rubber rollers.

The machine is driven from a motor 34 mounted on the base which drives, through a V belt 36 and suitable pulley, a countershaft 31. The drive continues from the countershaft 31 through a chain 33 and suitable pulleys to an upper cross shaft 39. Sprockets 4| and 42 are mounted on the cross shaft 39 at opposite sides of the work bed. Due to the close spacing of the metal roll ers II, I provide driving sprockets for alternate rollers on opposite sides of the machine, one of said sprockets being shown in detail and indicated by numeral 43 in Fig. 3. The sprocket 43, illustrative of all the driving sprockets for the rollers, is provided with a shaft 44 mounted at its outer end in bearings 46 and connected to its associated grooved roller I! by means of a flexible coupling 41a. A sprocket chain 45 driven from the sprocket 4| engages and drives the sprockets 43 on one side of the work bed while a sprocket chain 45a engages and drives all the sprockets 43 on the opposite side of the machine, the grooved metal rollers being thus all driven in unison. At the lower end of the roller bed, I provide sprockets 41 and over which the sprocket chains 45 and 45a respectively pass, the said chains engaging the sprockets. 43 with their upper flights only. In order that the sprocket chains 45. and 45a may be maintained in engagement with the sprockets 43, I provide a hold down means comprising a plate- 49 (shown only in Figs. 3 and overlying each of said chains and held in position adjustably by means of a bolt 5| having a adjusting nuts 52 and 53 thereon, its lower end forming a part of the securing means for the bearings 46. SeeFig. 5. As will beseen in Fig. 3, the bearings 46 are supported by a longitudinal eye beam 50 mounted on extensions of the transverse eye beams l3 and I4.

In order to move the fruit downwardly over the inclined roller bed, I provide a conveyor for each of the sections A, B and C. Each of the conveyors. comprises a pair of sprocket chains 56 and 51 carrying spaced slats 58 between them, the slats 58, being rearwardly inclined, as shown? in Fig. 6, to exert a lifting efiect on the fruit. being conveyed. I have found this feature to be extremely important, the inclination of the slats preventing possible crushing of the fruit upon the roller bed. The drive for theconveyorsis comprised of a lower cross shaft'59 extending all the way across the bed and having mounted thereon sprockets at both sides of each of the sections A, B and C to drive the chains 56 and 51. The cross shaft 59 is driven by means of a relatively large pulle 62 and V belt 63 from a pulley 64 mounted on the cross shaft 39.

The slats 58 for the conveyors areheld down with respect to, the roller bed by means of Z bars 66 and 6I having angles 68 and 69 secured thereto which engage the upper edges of the slats 58. The Z bars have their upper flanges slotted at suitable intervals as shown at H and 12 in Fig. 3 and are connected to plates 13- and 14 carried by the upper bearing blocks 24 at the sides of each of the sections in a manner permitting limited relative movement therebetween. This is accomplished by providing each of the plates 13 and 14-with a hole at suitable intervals, having a bushing 16 therein which extends through the hole andthrough the slotted openings H and 12 in the 2 bars. An adjusting screw 1! provided with a wing nut 18 extends through the bushing 16 and can be tightened with respect to the bushing without clamping the upper flange H or I2 to the plate 13 or 14. The 2 bars 66 and 61 are thus free to move up and down with respect to the plates. Springs 19 and 8| bear downwardly on the 2 bars 66 and 61 and have their upper ends bearing against angles 82 and 83 secured to the side plates 13 and I4.

Extending across the three sections A, B and C is a water pressure header 84 from which leads conduits 86 and 81 over each of the sections A, B and C, said conduits being provided with spray heads 88 and 89, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to subject the fruit to a washing action while on the roller bed. This serves to clean the fruit and free the machine of caps and stems.

As will be seen from Fig. 1 of the drawing, the upper end of each of the sections A B and C is comprised of a plate 9| extending entirely across the sections of the bed and adapted to deliver fruit to be treated onto the rollers. At the lower end of each of the sections A, B and C is a plate 92 extending across the sections upon which the cleaned, decapped fruit is delivered and from which it is discharged at the lower end of the machine.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my improved apparatus will be readily understood. Fruit to be cleaned and have the stems or caps removed therefrom is fed onto the working bed over the plate 9| at the upper end of each of the sections and is moved downwardly by means of the slats 5.8 of the conveyors. The grooved metal rollers I! extend slightly above the adjacent soft rubber rollers, and rotate in a. direction to draw the caps of the fruit in between each of them and the next adjacent soft rubber roller of each coacting pair of rollers. The rollers are of such diameter, however, that the fruits themselves will not be engaged. and crushed thereby, the grooved metal rollers having a diameter. of approximately ofv an inch and the relatively soft rubber rollers having a diameter of approximately of an inch. It will be seen from Fig. 6 that the inclination of the slats 58 of. the conveyor is such that the fruit engaged. thereby. is. lifted. with respectv to the rollers thereby avoiding crushing. it. I havefoundwvithzny. improved apparatus, that I can decap strawberries without crushing those which are too-soft to be conveniently handled with the fingers. As the fruit is moved over the working bed, it is caused to roll over and over and is subjected to ray-[rays of water from the spray-heads 88 and 89 which clean it and also clean the bed of caps and stems. While-the inclination of the working bed may be varied, I have found that an inclination of 29 to -30-degrees from the horizontal affords good results. In actual practice, with-a roller. bed comprising 50 pairs each of the rollers 48 inches long and rotating 340 revolutionsper minute, I have decapped from 4000 to 5000 pounds of strawberries per hour, andremovedapproximately 98% of the caps;

By reference to Figs. 4 and 6, it will be seen that the ridges between the grooves of the grooved rollers H are rounded at their points. I have found that these round points are sharp enough-to grip the caps butnot-sharpenough to cut the same, thus bringing about added decapping efficiency.

From the'foregoing, it willhe apparent that I have devised an improved machine for decapping and stemming fruit which is simple and economical of design, reliable in operation, and one having a relatively large capacity.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for decapping and de-stemming small fruit such as strawberries, cherries, grapes and the like, a downwardly inclined work bed comprising a multiplicity of grooved metal rollers alternating and in frictional driving engagement with a like number of relatively soft rubber rollers, the periphery of the metal rollers being disposed slightly above the periphery of the adjacent cooperating rubber rollers, shafts for the rollers extending entirely across the bed, lower bearing blocks for the shafts of the rubber rollers and extending longitudinally of the bed along the sides and between the sides, thereby dividing the bed longitudinally intoa plurality of sections, upper bearing blocks for the shafts of the metal rollers mounted over the lower bearing blocks, adjusting means for drawing the bearing blocks toward each other to maintain the rollers in frictional engagement, and means to drive the metal rollers.

2. In apparatus for decapping and de-stemming small fruit such as strawberries, cherries, grapes and the like, a downwardly inclined work bed comprising a multiplicity of grooved metal rollers alternating and in frictional driving engagement with a like number of relatively soft rubber rollers, the periphery of the metal rollers being disposed slightly above the periphery of the adjacent cooperating rubber rollers, shafts for the rollers extending entirely across the bed, lower bearing blocks for the shafts of the rubber rollers extending longitudinally of the bed along the sides and between the sides, thereby dividing the bed longitudinally into a plurality of sections, upper bearing blocks for the shafts of the metal rollers mounted over the lower bearing blocks, adjusting means for drawing the bearing blocks toward each other to maintain the rollers in frictional engagement, means to drive the metal rollers, and slat conveyors for moving fruit downwardly over the work bed, the slats being rearwardly inclined to exert a lifting effect on the fruit.

, 3. In apparatus for decapping and de-stemming small fruit such as strawberries, cherries, grapes and the like, a downwardly inclined work bed comprising a multiplicity of grooved metal rollers alternating and in frictional driving engagement with a like number of relatively soft rubber rollers, the axes of the metal rollers being disposed slightly above the .plane passing through adjacent cooperating rubber rollers, shafts for the rollers extending entirely across the bed, lower bearing blocks for the shafts of the rubber rollers extending longitudinally of the bed along the sides and between the sides, thereby dividing the bed longitudinally into a plurality of sections, upper bearing blocks for the shafts of the metal rollers mounted over the lower bearing blocks, adjusting means for drawing the bearing blocks toward each other to maintain the rollers in frictional engagement, means to drive the metal rollers, slat conveyors for moving fruit downwardly over the work bed, the slats being rearwardly inclined to exert a lifting effect on the fruit, and hold down means bearing on the slats to maintain them in uniform spaced relation with respect to the bed.

, JOHN D. GADDIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 883,708 Fontana Apr. 7, 1908 1,298,488 Foote Mar. 25, 1919 1,677,444 Hansen July 17, 1928 1,703,123 Triplett Feb. 26, 1929 1,765,902 Brochet June 24, 1930 1,946,021 Jones Feb. 6, 1934- r 2,048,470 Sanborn July 21, 1936 2,086,878 Paxton July 13, 1937 2,323,668 Morgan July 6, 1943 2,383,268 Morgan Aug. 21, 1945 

